Tacx flow smart not working at all

We’re locked down so I’ve been using my tacx flow smart trainer nearly every day. Last night I turned it on, and nothing. No lights, not transmitting, nothing.

I searched all the forums and once mentioned a blown resistor on the circuit board. I took mine apart and, yup, blown resistor. Now it’s a paperweight.

I’ve reached out to Garmin (who now own tacx after 1st April) to see what can be done (I might just be outside warranty), but in the mean time, I’m going to be attempting to continue training on a very old set of dumb rollers, which I’ll have to learn to ride first.

I’d still prefer the smart turbo, but extreme circumstances call for extreme measures!

I had my old Flux exchanged for a Flux S which was outside of the original warranty by a couple of months. The fact that it was my third replacement unit had a positive impact but i can’t fault the customer service from Tacx/ Garmin. I even pushed and received an option for discounted Neo at 60% but that would have meant tracing the old unit which was returned to my LBS, picking that up and then sending onto Tacx directly. Whilst i had the support of the LBS with a demo Neo 1 i wanted to continue my training without any significant breaks.

The only aspect which could have been improved was the ping pong email game which moved at snail pace or sometimes went backwards either in my inability to express myself clearly( Fair) or the service desks written English required additional training.

Fingers crossed Garmin will stand behind their product here as well

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Thanks for the positive story. Hopefully your right in that Garmin will help me out.

I did 45 minutes on the rollers today, with a desk on one side and my 2 kids on the other to prop me up initially. I managed after about 15 minutes to ride unsupported, but adhearing to power levels on TR is definitely beyond me at the moment. Another couple of sessions on the rollers and I’m hoping to at least get somewhere with it. At least its hard and a workout in itself at the moment!

I think you might still be able to use the flow as a dumb trainer. I use mine without plugging it in quite often, when I an’t be bothered dealing with all the erg problems. It just works like a fluid trainer.

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What to say man… Today mine blew up on me too! We’re also in Lockdown and indoor riding was the only thing keeping me from going insane. I’ve mailed Garmin as well.

hi, so ive woken up this morning to my tacx flow not working either. Admittedly its been plugged in for 24hr since yesterday (when it worked). How can you tell if its the resistor? Also what was the procedure you followed with garmin/ tacx and was it a positive outcome? TIA

I had to disassemble the turbo and look at the circuit board to confirm that the resistor was blown. It basically would not switch on at all.

Email garmin customer services through their website and tell them what’s happened. My turbo was still under the 2 year warranty so attach your proof of purchase to your email at the same time to speed up the process.

Garmin take about 2/3 days to respond to every email, and though mine is being replaced FOC they have no stock of the flow smart until 8 weeks.

Found this forum and apt for what happened today. I have a neo Tacx 2T and had it for 8 months. Resistance stopped during ride today and no lights working. Called Garmin and they have said the trainer is a complete write off?! Essentially a resistance malfunction they cannot fix.

They have offered a replacement although the logistics and timing of it means I’ll be trainer-less for a while.

Any one else had this?

Not that specific issue, but my Tacx trainer blew up in April, and I got it replaced FOC in August, so I’d be looking for either a dumb trainer or rollers to use in the meantime.

Further to my original post, I’ve kept up use of the rollers, became proficient in them, can even go hands free for a few seconds now and they’re a good alternative to the static turbo. I’d strongly suggest rollers for anyone using TR as a way to keep it interesting.

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Hi all,

I’ve got the same issue as the above. I’ve taken my trainer apart and can’t see anything blown on it, one thing I do notice is that the fan towards the front still comes on. Is this in line with everyone else’s failures?

Hi there ,
My tacx Flow S blow up. Blue led doesn’t switch on anymore.
Have you some hints about which resistor need to be replaced on the board?
Please write me on alchimiemedathotmail.com
THNX!!!